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I also had traditional braces in high school and just over time, my teeth shifted. I did Invisalign and LOVED it. I’ve been done with treatment for about a year and just wear mine at night now.
Everything you said was spot on, especially about less snacking. You just don’t want to deal with taking them out. I was also told to drink only water with them in, which is another healthy bonus. Two other things: I was super spitty and lispy at first, which was comical but less noticeable to others. And, I put teeth whitening bleach in mine a few times, which was super convenient. Happy straight teeth to you! I always tell my kids that your teeth are the jewelry of your face so take care of them.

Like you, I had metal braces in high school. I was never given retainers and my overbite reappeared when I was in college. I started Invisalign when I was 25 and am so glad that I did it. I am a big smiler and talker and noticed that I was getting self-conscious about my teeth.

I had my trays for a year and am so happy with the results. I started seeing HUGE results after the first 4-6 weeks passed and would notice little changes every month or so after that. I now just wear my trays at night more as a night guard and have been doing that since I got all my “buttons” off in April 2012.

Heads up: if you can, get a second set of final trays. I believe it costs about $250. My trays have discolored slightly and can be super gnarly from wear and tear even with regular rinsing, brushing, washing.

Can’t wait to hear about your final result with invisalign! I’ve seen shifting since getting my braces off in my teens, so I’m considering this as an option as well!Stacey recently posted…Stacey’s Five Minute Face

Yet another braces in junior high/high school but never wore the retainers girl here! I had my invisalign done a year or so ago – it’s over now, I just wear the trays when I sleep (and I’m RELIGIOUS about it this time around). Anyway, while I love the results, I hated the “attachments” like nobody’s business. I had a bunch, some on my front teeth, and they weren’t symmetric. Made me feel like I had alien teeth. Ugh. HATED IT. It’s possible I threw a fit at the orthodontist’s office for not explaining to me ahead of time how awful they would be (I’m not proud). But man the results are nice. And they were so much easier and less painful than braces. So I still count it as a good experience. Plus, maybe they’ve gotten better at making nice attachments now? I hope?

Yes, the attachments take some getting used to, for sure. Luckily, mine are on my back teeth so you can’t really see mine unless I smile reaalllly wide. I don’t really love the way the attachments feel when I take my aligners out, so I keep my aligners in as much as possible. (Which is good, I guess!)

I am currently on tray 39 of 55 in my Invisalign. My orthodontist said mine was the longest treatment he has come across so far but WOW is it amazing the results! I could stop now and be totally happy but they want to round out my back teeth quite a bit, too.

To Kara re the cleaning – my ortho suggested using a toothbrush and some mild hand soap. I use just a tiny drop of Dial soap on the toothbrush and rub it along the inside and outside and rinse VERY well of course.

I know, right! I swear my mouth was not that jacked up. It was more like I had that crooked smile that is cute in your twenties (think Patricia Arquette in True Romance) but became more of a snaggle tooth in my thirties.

i am almost done with refinement #1…just got my last set of aligners today. i soak mine in hydrogen peroxide (and sometimes a little peroxyl mouthwash) and then brush them – they stay really clean (and white) that way. i had attachments on ALL my top front teeth when i first started, eek. my orthodontist was amazed that my open bite problem is getting fixed without metal braces. she was skeptical at first but i refuse to get metal braces because i am old, never had braces, and it’s just not cool!!!

I’m a dental assistant and have worked with many Invisalign patients. Good for you for wanting to treat your bite! I think you’ve covered almost everything I can thing of regarding the attachments and such, but I will say, I work in an office that still takes impressions (yes, those gross goopy ones) beforehand for submission for Invisalign. Not all offices have switched over to the intraoral scanners yet, so don’t always expect goop free visits. Good luck with your treatment.

So I started my treatment yesterday and I’m not a claustrophobic person, but these liners are testing my patience! When I got home from work today I had to take them out for a bit of a longer break or I thought I was going to go mad. I also had dreams last night about having popcorn in my teeth and sticky masses of stuff in my mouth that I couldn’t spit out…clearly I’m mental. I also feel like my mouth is super dry so am chugging water like noone’s business – normal or in my head? I don’t remember any of that with my teenage round of metal braces (Awww….remember the colored ties for the brackets?)

I definitely know what you’re talking about, Rebe! The first days are weird – in fact, I usually find that I get that claustrophobic feeling on the first couple of days of every new aligner. However, the feeling totally goes away after those first days, and they don’t bother me at all for the remainder of the two week periods. Hang in there!